Friday, March 30, 2007

In case you haven't already heard, ESPN is reporting on the Tigers/Yankees broadcast today that Kenny Rogers underwent surgery on his shoulder to remove a blood clot and repair some arteries and will miss the first three months of the season. Dave Dombrowski says that Rogers will be throwing in 6-8 weeks, but that we shouldn't expect him back until, "July."

With the Rogers situation now stretching from 15 days to July you have to think the Tigers are going to take a hard look at bringing Andrew Miller up from the minors MUCH sooner than originally expected. Right now Chad Durbin is going to start in Rogers' place but you have to think that's not going to be the long term answer. Miller is a future stud by all accounts and the Tigers already have had serious discussions about bringing him up to replace Rogers while he's hurt. I don't see Miller staying in the minors past the end of April at the latest, especially if Durbin falters.

Obviously I'm as bummed as anyone at this Rogers injury, but I am happy to hear that we'll get him back this year instead of losing the whole season. The Tigers staff is good enough to stem the tide without Kenny, and maybe this turn of events helps Miller progress faster than originally planned. Either way this is a loss for the Tigers, but not as big as it could have been.